Warp stop-motion for looms.



No. 818,367. PATENTED APR. 1'7, 1906. N. FOERSTER.

WARP STOP MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APILIOATION FILED AUG. 4, 1905.

4 SHBETSSHEBT 1.v

INVENTOR:

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I By Zzfm neys, mq/ f $4 No. 818,867. 'PATENTED APR.1'7, 1906. N.POERSTER. WARP $TOP MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1905.

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INVENTOR: WITNESSES! No. 818,367. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906. N. FOERSTER.

WARP STOP MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 INVENTOR:

WITNESSES:

No. 818,367. PATENTED APR.17, 1906.

N. FORESTER.

WARP STOP MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 4, 1905.

& SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVE NTQR:

UNITE l STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARP STOP-MOTION FOR LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 17,1906.

Application filed August l, 1905. Serial No. 272,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORBERT FOERSTER, a citizen of the United States,residing in Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in WVarp Stop-Motionsfor Looms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention aims to provide a warp stop-motion which shall be of thesimplest possible character and shall operate with certainty andreliability, which shall not put any great strain upon the warp-threads,and which shall not complicate the work of the weaver in repairingbroken threads.

Certain other advantages are referred to in detail hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an ordinary loom to which anembodiment of this invention is applied.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the principal parts of the loom, thestarti'ng-lever side of the loom being presented. Fig. 1 is a portion ofFig. 1 enlarged. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of Fig. 1,illustrating more clearly the operation of the shiftinglever andconnected parts. Fig. 3 is a plan showing for clearness only the partsrelating to this invention. Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams in elevation andplan, respectively, illustrating the operation of the actuating devices.Fig. 6 is a view of a series of actuating devices looking at them fromthe front of the machine and showing certain connected parts in section.Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrams illustrating in elevation the successivepositions of the parts upon breakage of a warp-thread and uponrestarting of the loom. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a supplementarydrop or actuating device.

The actuating devices are pivoted so that the warp-threads support onlythe free ends thereof, the free end of each actuating device or leverbeing supported upon the crossing-point of two adjacent warp -threadswhich are crossed (preferably at a point between the lease-rods) forthis purpose. For example, (see Figs. 4 and 5,) two adjacent threads Aand B are crossed at a point between the lease-rods C and D, and restingupon the two threads at their crossing-point is the free end of a thinblade or lever E, which constitutes the actuating device controlling themechanism for stopping theloom. In the machine illustrated the entireseries of levers E is pivoted upon a rod F, running the length of themachine and constituting one terminal of an electric circuit whichcontrols the stopping of the loom, the other terminal being a rod G,parallel with the rod F and above the same a short distance. The longerend H of the lever 1E rests upon the warp threads, and the shorter endor arm J is ar ranged to stand slightly in the back of the terminal Gwhen the warp-threads are intact. However, if either of the warp-threadsA or B breaks the heavier end H of the lever drops and presses theshorter arm J against the terminal G, completing the circuit andstopping the machine as hereinafter described. The contact might be madewith a terminal in position to be engaged by the lower long arm H of thelever but by the use of a shorter arm for making the contact thepressure is greater, and consequently the contact is better. The arm Jof course may lie in any direction from the pivot F. Preferably thelever E is provided with two pivot-holes K at equal distances from theopposite ends, so as to be reversible and so as to facilitate thepunching of the lever, (it being easier to hold it in position in thepunching-machine when there is an engagement at two points than whenthere is an engagement at only one point.) The levers E are very simplymounted, being threaded loosely on the rod F, so that there ispractically no friction in their operation and so that they may befreely moved in one direction or the other laterally to correspond withthe positions of the warp-threads.

The terminal rods F and G are mounted at their ends in suitableinsulating-bushings in the frame L and are provided with bindingpostsfrom which run wires M and N through a source of electricity (typifiedby the bat tery 0, Fig. 1) and through an electromagnet P. The latter isprovided with an armature Q, having a long tail R, which serves to moveinto operative position a projecting member S, carried upon thestarting-lever T. The lever T is of the usual or any suitableconstruction, having at its lower end a spring portion which tends tothrow it always toward the frame of the machine, and being arranged tooperate a transverse lever U, which shifts the belt from the fast to theloose pulley, the upper end of the lever being in a slot V, provided atits outer end with a squared recess adapted to receive the upper portionof the startinglever T and prevent the spring from throwing it towardthe machine and from thereby throwing the belt to the loose pulleythatis to say, in the position of the lever in Figs; 1 to 3 the loom is inoperation.

The lay is provided with a projecting portion or tappet W, whichnormally when the lay swings forward passes just above the top of thefeeler S. When a warp thread is broken, however, and the circuit iscompleted through the magnet P, the armature Q is drawn down and itstail R lifted, thus lifting also the projecting member S, and at thenext forward movement of the lay the tappet W strikes the feeler andpushes the shift ing-lever P out of its retaining-notch and into thelong portion of the slot V, so that its spring throws it inward andshifts the belt to the loose pulley, thus stopping the loom.

When a warp-thread has broken and been repaired, it is usually a littleloose at first and not adapted to support the actuating device that isto say, if the actuating device were rested upon the thread in the usualmanner the thread would sag, so that the actuating device would fall,perhaps, a suflicient distance to complete the circuit and stop theloom. In order to avoid this difficulty, there is provided, preferably,a means for rendering the stop-motion inoperative until the loom hasmade the necessary number of strokes to take up the warp-threads. Thenumber of strokes required for this purpose will vary from one or twowith rough cotton to half a dozen strokes with silk. In some caseswithextremely rough goods, for exampleit may be that the actuating devicecan be supported by the warp at once, in which case of course the meansfor rendering the stop-motion inoperative are unnecessary. Preferablymeans are also provided acting to render the device operative againautomatically after the loom is started and has run the desired numberof strokes. For example, a rod X may be provided, running across thefull width of the machine, preferably below the warp-threads, and asufficient distance in the rear to avoid interfering with the downwardmovement of the actuating device when the warp breaks. (See Fig. 7.)-The rod X, however, is adapted to be shifted to a forward position,Fig. 8, in which it holds up the lower end of the lever E, so that thelatter does not press with any weight upon the warp-threads and cannotswing downward to close the circuit and stop the loom. The two extremepositions of the rod X are illustrated in full and dotted lines,respectively, in Fig. 4.

After a warp-thread has broken and been repaired the weaver shifts therod X to its forward position, holding up all the levers E. The weaverthen throws the starting-leverT over to the position for operating theloom, and after a few turns, when the repaired warp thread has beendrawn sufficiently tightly to support the weight of its lever E, the rodX is shifted back again to its inoperative position.

A suitable mechanism for obtaining the desired operation is illustratedin Figs. 1 and 3. The rod X constitutes the u per horizontal cross-barof a frame provide with a parallel lower cross-bar or pivot Y and anupri ht Y at each side, one of which is extended to form a hand-lever Z,by means of which the frame can be rocked backward and forward on itslower pivotal shaft Y and the rod X can be moved from one to the otherof its two positions. In order to lock the rod X in its operativethat isto say, its forwardposi tion, a spiral s ring a presses the entireframe, compose of the parts X, Y, Y, and Z, toward the lower end of Fig.3. At the same time the spring a has a spiral strain tending (as doesthe weight of the parts) to throw the lever Z to the right in Fig. 1thatis to say, to throw the rod X to its rearmost or inoperative position.The spring a cooperates with a locking arm b on the shaft Y, whichprojects under the cam-shaft c of the loom, and which in turn iscontrolled bya threaded collar d on the cam-shaft 1 Normally'the springa by its spiral effect holds the arm I) up against the under side of thecam-shaft c. When the lever Z is thrown forward, the arm I) is throwndown sufficiently to escape the threads d, and the spring a moves thewhole frame laterally until the arm I) strikes against the enlargement eat the end of the screw-thread. By reason of the diameter of thethreaded sleeve d the arm I) cannot move upward, and the rod X is heldin its forward position. The end of the arm I) enters between thethreads on the sleeve 01. Now when the loom is started the cam-shaftrevolves in such a direction that the threads on the sleeve (1 graduallyforce the arm 1) side-- wise against the pressure of the spring at untilthe end of the thread is reached, when the arm I) springs upward untilit strikes the under side of the cam-shaft, this upward movementthrowing the rod X to its backward inoperative position. During themovement of the arm I) from one end to the other of the screw thread thewarp threads are sufiiciently tightened to support the actuatingdevices. A greater or less delay in the withdrawal of the rod X and theresetting of the actuating devices may be secured by prolong ing orshortening the screw-threads of the sleeve d. For example, if it isdesired to make six picks with the stop-motion inoperative the threadwill be given three revolutions, (since the cam-shaft revolves at halfthe speed of the lay-shaft.) Preferably provision is made for breakingthe circuit as soon as the loom is stopped, so as to save wastingcurrent and so as to permit the feeler S'to restore the armature Q toits uppermost position by the weight of the feeler on the tail R of thearmature. The breaking of the current when the loom stops also saves theweaver from receiving an electric shock in the readjustment of theactuatingdevices to the restored warp. For example, there may be interposed in the circuit for this purpose a pair of terminals f g, Fig.1*, which are pressed together by the lever T during the running of theloom, but which when the lever T is thrown back into the long portion ofits slot V spring apart and break the circuit. The supporting of thelevers E from a point above their centers tends to maintain themautomatically in proper vertical planes and to prevent them from workingtoward one side or the other.

Certain of the features of the above-described actuating devices may beapplied to a supplementary actuating device E, Fig. 9, which has theadditional advantage that it may be used with one or with twowarpthreads. For this reason it is peculiarly valuable as asupplementary actuating device, Where in the location of the regularactuating devices E across the warp a single thread is accidentallyomitted. Supposing A to be such a thread, the supplementary device E isdropped over the rod F by means of the oblique slot f and the extrathread A is passed through the notch g, so as to support the weight ofthe lower end of the actuating de vice or to drop such lower end whensuch thread breaks. The notched lever E may therefore be used incombination with the levers E to correct errors in the setting of thelatter upon the warp, or the notched levers may be used exclusively, thefacility for setting them in place compensating to a great extent fortheir liability to displacement, (which can be reduced to a minimum bymaking the notches f and g of considerable length,) and they may be usedfor two threads by making their lower ends plainthat is, omitting thenotch g.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail certainspecific embodiments of the invention, yet it is not to be understoodtherefrom that the invention is limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed. Various modifications thereof in detail and in thearrangement and combination of the parts may be made by those skilled inthe art without departure from the invention.

What I claim is 1. A warp -stop motion, in combination with means forrendering it inoperative to stop the loom, and means for rendering itoperative again automatically after the loom has run a determineddistance.

2. A warp -stop I motion, in combination with means for rendering itinoperative, said means including a series of levers each supported upona crossingpoint of two warpthreads, a shiftable rod X for relieving thethreads of the weight of said levers, means for locking said rod X inits operative position, and means for returning said rod to itsoperative position automatically after the loom has run a determineddistance.

3. A warp-stop motion, in combination with means for rendering itinoperative, said means including a series of levers each sup portedupon a crossing-point of two warpthreads, a shiftable rod X forrelieving the threads of the weightof said levers, an arm 1) moving withsaid rod X and engaged in the normal running of the loom with thecamshaft c, a sleeve 01 on said cam-shaft provided with a screw-thread,and a spring a for shifting the rod X longitudinally when the arm I) ismoved beyond the diameter of the sleeve d, whereby theend of the arm bengages the beginning of the screw-thread and is gradu ally shifted backto its original position by the rotation of the cam-shaft after the loomis started.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

NORBERT FOERSTER. Witnesses:

DOMINGO A. USINA, THEODORE T. SNELL.

